Xethorsiph
Chieftain
I posted this before in the tips section and it seemed to be well recieved, so in my arrogance I have deemed it article worthy and have decided to write one 
The Basics
For what ever reason, the AI puts more value on gold on hand than it does for GPT. This can be exploited if you have a good trading rep.
Let's say you have 19 gold, and your opponent has 1 gpt. There are many times that they will make the deal of 1gpt for 19 gold, resulting in a net gain for you. When applied on a wide scale, this can go as far as 40 gpt for 760 gold. Depending on you're trade rep, you could get a better deal like 1gpt for 18g.
Applications
Trading Rep.: By becoming an international bank, if you do not break any deals by starting a war (But then, why would you?) you will end up with an outstanding trade rep. This will help you get even better deals, and can help you gain a U.N. victory.
Tech lead on upper difficulties?!?!:If you can accumulate enough gold, you can essentially take away all of the research capabilities of your opponents, as well as their militant support. This can be expanded into absolutely sluggish science research globaly.
On my recent monarch game, I teseted this strat out on a wide scale as the Ottomans. After a while, I began to notice that I was not as far along on science as I normally was, and neither were my opponents. Infact, by the 1960's I still didnt even have tanks. Why is this ok? Because that meant my Sipahi's were the top dog in offence. If you can time this right, you can make you're unique unti worth every shield by lenghtening the ammount of time it that it is the top of the line.
The Risks
The inherent risk with this is that you are getting gpt for a one time sale, meaning that if the AI starts a war with you, you are going to be out lots of gold, depending on how large the deal is and how long after the deal was made that the AI attacked.
To combat this, you must be a very good friend to your opponents. Make lots of deals with everyone. Trade tech, trade lux's and resources and maps, do w/e it takes to keep the AI from DoW on you.
The Basics
For what ever reason, the AI puts more value on gold on hand than it does for GPT. This can be exploited if you have a good trading rep.
Let's say you have 19 gold, and your opponent has 1 gpt. There are many times that they will make the deal of 1gpt for 19 gold, resulting in a net gain for you. When applied on a wide scale, this can go as far as 40 gpt for 760 gold. Depending on you're trade rep, you could get a better deal like 1gpt for 18g.
Applications
Trading Rep.: By becoming an international bank, if you do not break any deals by starting a war (But then, why would you?) you will end up with an outstanding trade rep. This will help you get even better deals, and can help you gain a U.N. victory.
Tech lead on upper difficulties?!?!:If you can accumulate enough gold, you can essentially take away all of the research capabilities of your opponents, as well as their militant support. This can be expanded into absolutely sluggish science research globaly.
On my recent monarch game, I teseted this strat out on a wide scale as the Ottomans. After a while, I began to notice that I was not as far along on science as I normally was, and neither were my opponents. Infact, by the 1960's I still didnt even have tanks. Why is this ok? Because that meant my Sipahi's were the top dog in offence. If you can time this right, you can make you're unique unti worth every shield by lenghtening the ammount of time it that it is the top of the line.
The Risks
The inherent risk with this is that you are getting gpt for a one time sale, meaning that if the AI starts a war with you, you are going to be out lots of gold, depending on how large the deal is and how long after the deal was made that the AI attacked.
To combat this, you must be a very good friend to your opponents. Make lots of deals with everyone. Trade tech, trade lux's and resources and maps, do w/e it takes to keep the AI from DoW on you.
